Of Endings and Beginnings
by Forelle
Summary: After a car crash that leaves Roxas with no immediate famliy, he leaves Twilight Town and goes to Destiny Island for the funeral. While finding a way to cope with the sudden loss, he meets a red head who knows how to push his buttons. AkuRoku, RiSo, etc.
1. Funerals and Family Members

Disclaimer- I don't own KH or any other characters from it

I'm posting this here and am working on this, someone tell me if it sounds all right. Thanks

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The twilight shadows from the sun were slowly falling down beneath the horizon. They set fire to the ocean waves that crashed against the shores of the chain of islands the boy now called home. The blonde twisted in place, stretching his arms and cracking his back after having sat in the same position for so long. His eyes watched as the light fell even further away from him, the image of his home dissappearing with it. As the evening light made his usually sky blue eyes shine wearily, a crunching noise came from somewhere behind him. The person or thing behind him walked closer and closer, crossing the distance between the sand and forest beyond, but they stopped a distance away from him, his attitude probably stopping them from wanting to interrupt his reverie or whatever it was he was imagining.

"Ah-hmm." The person behind the blonde coughed a little bit, probably not wanting to have to stay out after dark.

"What is it Kairi?" The blonde asked his cousin, tired from all the contact with people he was having to deal with lately.

"Everyone was just wondering where you'd gone off to. I mean, it _is _their fu-,"

"I _know _what it is Kairi." He took a deep breath before turning around to face his seveteen year old cousin. For a moment she looked like his sister, Namine, but then he remembered why he was there. "Tell them I'll be back before tomorrow." The boy muttered, turning back around on the tree and looking out towards the sunset. _Just a few more moments . . ._

"Roxas, they really-," Kairi tried to speak comfortingly.

"No, Kairi, they really don't. I'm the kid of their dead brother. That's it. It's pity, not love." A spiteful nature had been creeping deeper and deeper into Roxas' mind since the accident. He, who used to be such a cheerful boy, was now pushing everyone around him away. All of his relatives were only seeing the face of their dead family members when they looked down at the seventeen year old. So, rather than dealing with all of the frustration that came with funerals and family members, he'd taken to escaping into the wilds of Destiny Island.

"Fine, I'll tell them." Kairi sighed heavily as she turned back around and dissappeared back onto the path that led back to her family's house.

Roxas sat there a while longer, watching the orange flames disintegrate into the ocean and wishing that he could follow them for once.


	2. Until

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts 1 or 2 and neither do I own the Final Fantasy series

I know the parent pairings are a bit weird, but I couldn't think of anyone for Leon, pluse Roxas' parents kinda fit.

Read and Review please. Thanks.

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"Hey Dad, do you think we can hurry up? I've really got to meet Hayner and Pence today! We've been planning this for EVER!"

"Roxas, we're going as fast as we can. It's all this damned-,"

"Cloud!"

"Sorry. . ."

"As your father was saying, we're going as fast as possible. Do you think you can call them and tell them you'll be late?"

"WHAT? Late? I can't be late! Mom! This is the Struggle Tournament playoffs! If I'm late-!"

"Oh Roxas, shut up! With you it's always Struggle this, Struggle that. When are you gonna man up and get a girlfriend?,"

"Oh yeah Namine? Well why don't I tell Mom and Dad where you've been for the past few nights?"

"You wouldn't."

"You know me better than that."

"Mom, Dad, don't listen to him whatever you do! Don't-,"

"Hey Mom, Namine has been with that older kid, Sei-,"

"ROXAS!"

"NAMINE!"

"BOTH OF YOU! SHUT UP!"

That was the last thing Roxas heard his dad say before a speeding car hit the left side of their Ford Taurus. The other car had run a red light and hit them full speed. Roxas didn't remember what it felt like to be thrown into the side of the car, but he did know about the aftermath. The news reel had read 'FOUR DEAD IN CAR ACCIDENT, SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD SON ONLY SURVIVOR'. His dad and sister were killed on impact, along with the asshole who'd caused it all, while his mom had been taken to the ICU along with him. Apparently she died after three hours of doctors attempting to save her while Roxas had had to stay under for about four. When he'd woken up in the hospital no one was with him except for a nurse who was just checking his stats to make sure he was alive.

His family members didn't arrive until he'd been awake for three days. First came Sora and Kairi with their parents, Leon and Tifa, they had been the closest to Cloud and Aerith since forever. Then came his grandfather, Cid, on Cloud's side, but he didn't have much to say to his grandchild, but it was Cid, so Roxas hadn't expected much to come out of it. A number of other family members, mostly those who he hadn't seen since he was a child, arrived saying that they were 'so sorry' and 'just couldn't believe something like this could have happened to such happy people'. He had scoffed at most of them, irking them so much that they left his room stomping.

"It doesn't matter if they were happy or not, who cares about that? Now, they're dead." Was his typical response, until he'd just stop talking to any more relatives that tried to visit him.

Reporters had come through as well, but he made sure that none of them left with the same story.

The accident had been three weeks ago and now they were back in Aerith and Leon's hometown. The family had accepted Cloud and Aerith's will, understanding that they'd want to be buried somewhere in the hills, but then they realized someone would have to take care of Roxas.

"I've already got three kids." Roxas overheard his Uncle Sephiroth saying after someone had suggested that he could take Roxas. Roxas knew about Loz, Kadaj, and Yazoo and if _anyone _tried to make him live with them they were crazy.

"Well I certainly can't do it, I've got a reputation to uphold. Do any of you understand how hard it is to run a company?" That was his Uncle Ansem's excuse, going on about how a business mogul can't be seen with children, otherwise they'll think he's terrible. Plus the old man just didn't like the boy.

His relatives went on bickering about who would take the misfit of the family when finally someone stood up from the table. It was Leon, Aerith's brother.

"We'll take him." And then he walked out of the room, all the family staring after the brunet in slight astonishment.

"Kadaj!" Jenova yelled at her eldest son. The brat was fourteen. "Stop telling your younger siblings what to do!" She ripped the stuffed animal the boy had taken from Loz and gave it back to him. Without its head. "No, no, Loz, don't cry. Don't cry! Sephiroth, help me out." Roxas' Aunt Jenova waved a hand over at her husband while attempting to stop all three of her children from crying.

"I'll be back in a moment." Sephiroth held up a finger to Leon and Tifa as he left to go stop his children from making fools out of themselves.

"Why did Cloud have to have such odd family members?" Tifa sighed as more family members came piling into the room all wearing black and having either bored or dreary looks plastered onto their faces. She looked around for Roxas, seeing if the teen had shown up to the funeral. When she noticed he wasn't there yet she flagged Kairi down.

"Kairi, have you seen Roxas?"

"No, but don't worry, Sora has gone to get him."

"Oh."

"Roxas? Hey, Roxas? You there man?" Sora, Kairi's twin, was walking along the halls of his house, searching for his cousin. The house was creepily quiet as the brunet carefully checked each room before moving onto the next. Kairi had told him that Roxas said he'd be home before today, so where could he be now?

As he checked the last guest room in the house he noticed the balcony door open ever so slightly. As he creaked across the wooden floor he could hear someone singing on the otherside, very softly the lone boy sang to himself.

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If I caught the world in a bottle

And everything was still beneath the moon

Without your love would it shine for me?

If I was smart as Aristotle

And understood the rings around the moon

What would it all matter if you loved me?

Sora slowly sat down on the otherside of the window, letting his blonde cousin sing his tune. He wondered what it had meant to him. Why he was singing it. Where he'd heard it. He wondered . . . many things.

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If I caught the world in an hourglass

Saddled up the moon

So we could ride until the stars grew dim

Until

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One day, you'll meet a stranger

And all the noise is silenced in the room

You'll feel that you're close to some mystery

In the moonlight, when everything shadows

You feel as if you've known her all your life

The world's oldest lesson in history

Here in your arms, where the world is impossibly still

With a million dreams to fulfill

And a matter of moments until the dancing ends

Roxas looked out over the ocean, a sense of calm spreading over him as he sang the song his mother had sung to him when he was little. He'd heard her sing it sometimes, especially when she and his dad had come home after a date or gone out with some friends to a party. The melody was a nice, soothing tempo, lulling him into a sort of stupor.

His heart felt a pang as he slowly ended the song, imagining his mother was sitting next to him with one of her flowers and singing it along side with her soft voice. Once he'd gone silent the utter stillness of the moment was wrecked by soft, stifled sobbing coming from behind him. Through the slightly open door.

Roxas picked himself up off the floor and opened the door only to find his cousin, Sora, leaning against the wall and crying a little bit like the uber-softy he'd always been.

"Th-that was s-s-so s-s-sad! Roxas," Sora got up off the floor quicker than Roxas thought the brunet could and held the blonde close, nearly wringing his neck at the same time. "I'm s-so sorry." The brunet kept blubbering as Roxas tried to comprehend why his cousin could be outside the balcony door.

"Sora, why are you here?" He asked quickly, before his shirt could become stained with salt water.

"O-oh yeah, I was s-sent to bring you to the funeral. I forgot! Crap, comeon Roxas, we've gotta hurry!" Sora took off at a run, sprinting down the hall and stairs until he was out the door and down the street in no time. Roxas on the otherhand took his time getting there, instead choosing to sidle down the stairs and make his way very slowly down the hill and to where he'd finally have to realize that his family really wasn't coming home this time.

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I know, Sora is a bit of a crybaby, but I wanted a good foil to Roxas' unusual stoic-ness about the whole situation. And, all though in the games Sephiroth calls Jenova his 'mother' I wanted to put him and the remnants in there, just because I felt like it. :)

Also, the lyrics used in this chapter are owned **completely and irrevocably** by Sting (the musician) and they are the lyrics to the song 'Until' from the movie 'Kate and Leopold' (a very good chick flick :))

Read and Review please. Thanks. Hope you like it.


	3. Fires and Graves

Disclaimer - If I were Square Enix or Disney, I wouldn't put this up here

Here's Ch.3, I hope you guys like it.

Read and Review please. Thanks

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The funeral started off as every funeral should. With one of the pallbearers bursting into tears. Most of the uncles were carrying the three coffins, but they had had to get some of the guests to step in, as well as Roxas. The teenager couldn't understand why some people were crying as Kairi, Sora, Cid, and he spoke to them, telling them how they knew each of the crash victims. The priest came up to the altar and spoke some prayers into the microphone while the chorus sang from their pit. And after about an hour and a half the service was finished. Men and women dressed in black moved to the parking lot to grab their cars, their children following, some quiet and some not.

Roxas took a little longer to move to his respective limosine, the one that would follow the hearse over to Midgar Cemetary where his mother and father would be laid to rest and Namine would be right next to them, with his own plot of land next to hers.

The priest, a squat little man that seemed to have taken one too many dips in the wine, wanted to offer his condolences. He went on about how he remembered Aerith from when she and Leon would sometimes show up just to light a candle for their parents. The old man even let a tear drop fall, but Roxas remained unmoved and the old priest realized that and dissappeared saying he had 'things' to tend to.

When Roxas left the stain-glass cathedral and slowly made his way to the limo where Sora, Kairi, Uncle Leon, and Aunt Tifa were waiting for him, a motorcycle went past him. The rider was dressed in all black and wore a helmet that was shaded so that you couldn't see who the driver was. The driver seemed to be looking at him, but his mind ignored that fact and continued on his way towards the black limo.

Sora, Roxas noticed, was whispering with a tall, silver-blue haired guy, not much older than himself. They seemed pretty close, given the fact that the silveret had his hands palm down on the car on either side of Roxas' cousin. Sora's face looked like a wreck from all the crying he had done during the funeral, but the silveret didn't seem to care as he gave the brunet a quick peck on the cheek before moving around to another car.

"Who was that?" Roxas asked softly, a bit tired from sitting still in a church. Sora jumped when he heard his cousin's voice and quickly swiped away a few more tears.

"Uh, my boyfriend, Riku Hanatsuki. I'm not sure if you two have met yet." Sora replied, trying to sound cheerful through another small bit of tears again.

"No. We haven't." Roxas murmured before quickly getting into the car. The limosine was large enough for all of them to have full arm length and a seat to themselves, but Kairi and Tifa were sitting close together while Leon sat furthest from everyone and Roxas and Sora ended up sitting near each other.

"So, dear, what did Riku want?" Tifa asked, trying to make small talk.

"Nothing, he just wanted to say hi." Sora looked away from everyone and out of one of the tinted windows.

On the way towards the graveyard it seemed as if they came across everyone that didn't want to stop for a funeral procession. A couple of times Roxas thought an accident of some sort had happened, but the police tried to move as quickly as they could to move folks out of the way. Leon and Tifa didn't have much to say, not that Roxas wanted to say anything, but Sora and Kairi still tried to make some polite conversation.

"S-so, Kairi, have you finished Mr. Duck's assignment yet?" Sora asked self-conciously.

"No, was that why Riku wanted to talk to you?" teased Kairi.

"N-NO! Of course not! Um, so, have you?"

"No. I've gotten most of it done though. How 'bout you?"

"I-,"

"Who's Mr. Duck?" Roxas broke in.

"Uh-," Sora and Kairi looked at each other a bit nervously.

"He's our math teacher. You might have him, too, when you . . . start . ." Kairi felt the awkwardness of the conversation grow and grow. The three of them stayed silent while the limosine drove further and further out of the city, towards Cloud's, Aerith's, and Namine's final resting place. The forest outside got denser and denser as the procession made its way up the hills of Destiny Island.

"All right. We're here. Come one guys." Leon finally stirred from his position at the head of the limo and opened one of the doors. The rest of the family and Roxas made their way out of the same door. The meadow that lay outside the black limo was overflowing with flowers, some bright and soft yellow, others a soft pink hue.

"MOMMA! CAN WE GO YET?" A high pitched voice belted out from one of the cars a ways down. Roxas knew that as soon as the kid had said 'momma' the brat was one of Sephiroth's. Even as everyone around him turned to look over at the family of five Roxas didn't feel bad for them.

"Come on Roxas, let's go." Sora took one of Roxas' shoulders and wrapped his arm over it rather protectively. The brunet proceeded to walk forward into the graveyard as the hearse continued to trundle up the rocky road and towards the graves. They weren't very far from the sites when Roxas couldn't move anymore.

"Roxas? What's wrong?" Sora asked, a bit surprised that his cousin had halted in the middle of the pathway.

"Uh, j-just go ahead without me. I'll be there before . . . before it happens." Roxas told his cousin, trying to walk away from his grip.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's not like I'll be killed." A dark chuckle escaped him, before he started walking over to some patch of tombstones.

"Oh, ok then, if you say so." Sora continued over to the three great holes in the ground, wondering what could have happened to Roxas to make him so shaken up. 'Well, his family did just die.' Sora played with that thought and tried to imagine what he would do if Kairi, his mom, and his dad died and he lived. After a moment a couple of tears dropped from the corner of his eye and he realized he'd at least have Riku.

"Sorry." Roxas muttered to himself. He was ashamed of himself for acting like such a fool. He'd left his family's funeral! God, why did he have to be such a cry baby sometimes? Couldn't he just get over the accident and move on. Hayner and Pence had been trying to get in contact with him for the past couple of weeks, but whenever they called at Sora's home he'd tell them to say he wasn't there and now they were blocked on his cell phone.

"Dammit," Roxas muttered to the weatherbeaten grave before him.

Relatives and friends of the family were showing up at the grave sites still, piling in around the coffins, giving everyone hardly enough air to breathe. With so many people no one would notice he wasn't there, Roxas reasoned as he slowly left to wander among the graves. No one would mind if he stopped and examined some tombstone and if they did he could say he was their relative. A really, distant relative. As he wove in and out of the mausoleums and tombstones he realized he could no longer hear the burial ceremony.

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Oh well,

Roxas thought to himself as he brought his cell phone out of his pocket. He sent a quick text to Sora saying he'd be home before dark tonight and to tell his aunt and uncle not to worry before wandering around even further back.

It was about an hour after that text that he arrived near the graves again. He figured that after so long that when he returned he would have the graves to himself, but when he saw a black motorcycle parked on the path he wondered who was still there. Roxas walked further down the path, following some footsteps that looked too large to be Sora's or Kairi's. Who else would want to visit?

As the blonde moved closer and closer to his family's tombstones he heard someone's voice. As he turned a small corner around a mausoleum he caught sight of a bright, red mane. The person was wearing a black outfit, a bit of a cross between casual and formal as he had a tuxedo coat over some black pair of jeans that seemed attacked by a couple of belts.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Strife, Mrs. Strife, Namine, I know you might not hear me, but. . . but I should have tried to stop him. He-," The man choked back something before going on. "He would be really sorry, too, if he was here. I know he would. I know Reno would." The guy choked again as he stood watching over the parents and sisters graves.

"Excuse me, but, what are you doing here?" Roxas asked, trying to sound a little unafraid. The red-head swung around to face the blonde. In his arms, the man carried a black helmet that looked sort of familiar.

"Sorry, I- wait, who are you?"

"I'm Roxas Strife," the man blanched at the name.

"So, then your . . . your parents are-,"

"In their graves alongside my sister. Why? Who are you?" Roxas was getting snappy, annoyed that someone was disrupting his time with his family.

"My name's Axel Egan. I came to apologize for my brother," the spiky red-head paused a moment to compose himself. "He was the drunk driver." It was Roxas' turn to blanche at the name.

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For those who want to know why Axel's last name is Egan, it's because I couldn't think of anything else and the name means 'little fire'. It's Celtic/Gaelic and it's more of a first than last name, but I know someone with the last name Leslie.

Read and Review please and thank you.


	4. Someone to Blame

Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters in this fanfic, if I did it wouldn't be a fanfic

So, here's the next chapter, hope you guys like it.

R&R is appreciated.

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"What?" Roxas felt as if his world was spinning around while he just stood there and watched it sway.

"Whoa," Axel moved to catch Roxas, but the younger male waved a hand at him dismissively. "Ar-are you okay? Roxas?"

A tingle ran through Roxas at the sound of his name being used by that voice, but he wan't sure if it was good or bad. The red head was still looking at him as he slowly steadied himself. When the blonde looked at the red-head, really looked at him, he noticed two tear dots, a bit like jokers' marks, that looked recently tattooed on.

"Yes," Roxas rubbed his hand over his eyes before continuing. "Wh-why are you here? What do you want?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I should have been there for my brother, but-."

"What?"

"Reno had been drinking the night before and when he came home and slept on it his headache was even worse so, being the idiot he was, he drank some more hoping that it would stop the headache, but . . . it didn't. I didn't know before anything happened, I was at work and angry at Reno so I only heard he tried to drive through one of his friends who ended up crashing at our place." Axel paused to see if Roxas was still listening before going on. "Roxas?"

The blonde was staring at the ground in furious anger. Now he knew who was to blame, now he knew what had happened. Anger burst like a balloon in his stomach and the next thing he knew he was throwing punches.

The first one took Axel by complete surprise, but with a really quick recovery, he was back on his feet and hit Roxas right against the mouth, a mirror image of what he'd been given.

"The hell's your problem man?" Axel screamed at the slight male, swiping a hand over his lips trying to wipe away some of the blood. Roxas spat out a glob of saliva and blood before he spoke.

"The hell's _my _problem? Your brother killed my family! The hell's _your_ problem?" Roxas screamed, wiping at his mouth with his sleeve. Tifa might give him hell for it later, but this guy was worth it.

"I lost a brother to booze dude! At least you have someone to blame. The only person I can come up with is myself to blame!" Axel spat out some blood before huffing at Roxas, taking his helmet from up off the ground, and marching towards his motorcycle.

"Yeah! That's right asshole! RUN!" Roxas only got a loud 'fuck you' and the middle finger before the red head slipped his helmet over his head and sped off, leaving Roxas breathing heavily behind.

"Dammit." The teenager muttered, wishing he wasn't so emotional sometimes, especially when he was angery. With a heavy sigh Roxas turned to look down at the three graves that lay before him. The graves all read some similiar saying 'beloved', 'we will miss you', all the typical things, but when he saw his father's grave marker there were a different messages.

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'There has been nothing I haven't treasured.'

was all that was listed on the area for messages.

"I know you did Dad. I know you did. I'm sorry." Roxas picked a couple of yellow flowers from a patch behind the head stones and placed them on each grave. With a deep sigh and quick wipe of his eye, Roxas turned around and started making his way out of the graveyard and back to the Leonhart residence.

"I'm home." Roxas called into the house. The descent back to the house from the graveyard had taken a little longer than he'd thought it would, so that when he finally reached the house it was a couple of hours into being dark.

"Roxas?" Kairi called from inside the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Oh, it is you. Do you want to come and have something to eat?" Tifa called.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm not very hungry right now." Roxas trudged up the stairs and into the guest room after hearing a slight 'oh' from one of the women.

"Yeah? Okay, where do you want to go? Oh, hold on Riku, my mom's calling me down. I'll be back real quick." Sora tossed the phone down on his bed before running down the stairs and into the kitchen. His mom and sister were chatting together from across the island while his dad was sitting at the table with a very worn book being flipped through.

"Yeah Mom?" Tifa looked up at her son and then a darted glance at Squall.

"Sora, could you take Roxas out tomorrow?"

"Huh?"

"Take Roxas out with you tomorrow. Okay? Make him feel as if he hasn't lost everyone." Tifa paused before continuing, taking in her son's face. "Ookay?"

"Yeah Mom. Sure thing." Sora gave his mom a big grin before bounding upstairs. He was actually kind of glad that he'd get to spend some more time with his cousin, maybe he'd stop looking so down in the dumps. The brunet flopped onto his bed and picked his cell phone up.

"Hey Riku," the grin was still plastered onto his face. "Do you think someone else can join us tomorrow?"

"Morning Roxas," Sora called out to his blond cousin as the guy stumbled down the stairs.

"Hey Roxas." Kairi and Tifa called over to the teen as he wandered into the kitchen. The two were making pancakes on the stove top while Sora and Leon were sitting at the table. Leon only glanced up from his newspaper as the third teenager to live in his house came in.

"Mornin'," the man muttered. He flicked to the next page of the newspaper.

Sora was reading the comics and scarfing down a pancake drenched in syrup while Roxas slowly took a seat across from him. Most of them were in their pajamas still, but Sora looked ready to head out of the house. He had on a red, short-sleeved sweatshirt and a pair of khaki shorts.

"Where are you going?" Roxas asked, buttering up a chocolate chip pancake. The brunet looked up from his comics and glanced at his dad for a moment.

"Uh, Riku and I were going to head out on the town. Do you want to come along? We're going to meet up with some of our friends later, too, so you wouldn't be stuck with just us." A hopeful look was glimmering in the boys eyes and a tentative smile played with his lips.

"Sure, I guess. Where are we going to go?" Roxas heard a collective sigh escape Kairi and his aunt. His Uncle Leon only looked up at his nephew for a moment before glancing back down at his newspaper with a bit of a surprised 'huh'.

Tifa and Kairi both came over to sit down as Sora told them where he and Riku were planning on going. First was going to be some window shopping and then they were going to meet up with Zexion and Tidus at a cafe.

"There's this movie called _'How to Train Your Dragon' _that me and Tidus have been wanting to see. It looks pretty fun, have you seen the commercials?" Sora was bubbling over with happiness that his cousin would be joining him and his friends, maybe even get to know them well enough to be friends themselves.

"Sora, you can tell him all about it later, let him go get changed." Tifa broke her son's ranting. Though she loved him, the kid could sure talk people's ears off.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. Uh, I'll tell you about it when you're done." Sora waved to Roxas as he walked back upstairs and into the guest room. The little room was still bare of anything that showed that it was occupied except for a suitcase filled with Roxas' clothes. He grabbed a pair of jeans, a white sweatshirt, black t-shirt, and boxers before walking into the bathroom that was across the hall.

Ten minutes passed and Roxas went down the stairs trying to flick his hair dry, knowing he couldn't fix it in any way even if he wanted to. Riku had already shown up and Sora was sitting close to him on the couch. The two of them didn't look too worried about wasting some time, but Leon looked up from his newspaper with a look. Roxas leaned against the post at the end of the stairs, trying to decide what he should do when Leon coughed into his fist, shattering Sora and Riku's little world.

"Oh, Roxas!" Sora yelped like a little puppy when he saw his cousin standing off to the side. He popped up off the couch and rushed over. He smiled up at Roxas and grabbed his hand, dragging him over to where Riku now stood.

"Roxas, meet Riku. Riku, meet my cousin Roxas." Sora grinned at both of them while he brought their hands together in a hand shake. The silveret wore a light teal t-shirt and a pair of white wash jeans that covered his sneakers.

"Nice to meet you Roxas." Riku seemed all right from what Roxas had seen of the guy. He grinned about as much as Sora did, but his was smaller and a bit like he knew a private joke.

"Nice to meet you too Riku. Thanks for coming to the funeral yesterday." Sora's smile seemed a bit forced at that moment, but Riku just smiled and nodded.

"No problem. I'm glad I could make it." They released their hands and the tension Roxas had felt from Sora dropped off a bit. "So, shall we get going?"

"Sure!" Sora's bubbly nature returned as he and Riku left out the front door. Roxas followed at a much slower pace, not wanting to invade the couple's privacy, but when he was about to shut the door Leon called out to him.

"Roxas."

"Yeah Uncle Leon?"

"Just Leon." He stopped a moment as if surprised that had been his automatic reaction. "Huh . . . ah, have fun today." Leon looked up from his newspaper at his sister's son, his eyes furrowing as he looked over at the boy.

"Sure thing Leon." And Roxas slowly shut the door, but not so quick that Leon didn't notice the faint smile he had on his face. Leon chuckled a moment before returning to his newspaper.

"Kids these days. He sure acts like his dad did."

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There it is. Um . . . there's nothing I want to say here so just read and review, please and thank you.


	5. Coffee or Candy

"Man Dem, you should have seen his face. It was like he'd just found the root of all that's evil! I mean, jeezus, it wasn't even my fault! It was Reno that was driving the car! Not me!" Axel ran a hand through his hair as his friend Demyx made 'uh-huh' and 'yeah' and 'of course man' noises through out the entirely one-sided conversation. The two of them had been sitting in the coffee shop for about an hour and each had drunk two cups of java.

Axel raised one of his bright green eyes and looked at the blue eyed air-head that sat across from him. He sighed heavily when he noticed the guy was making googly eyes at one of the waiters.

"Jeezus, Dem." Axel sat up from his slumped over form and glared at the waiter who'd just waved a small wave at the sandy haired scatter-brain. "That's what you get punk." He muttered as he leaned back over his coffee.

"Hey," Demyx whined. "He was cute."

"Yeah, well that's what you get for not listening to me." Axel looked out the window as a silver car zoomed past. _Boy, things are not going well._ "I just don't know what I'm supposed to do now."

"Well, you tried your best, didn't you? Hey! I know what we can do that'll cheer you up!" Demyx grinned over at his compadre. Axel looked over at the bubbly twenty year old with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" _I'm just so enthusiastic about your ideas._

"Clubbing! Come on Ax, you love clubbing! And while I was ordering our- hey! Don't give me that look!- that cute barista gave me the scoop about where's best." Demyx looked so proud of himself at his 'find' that Axel just didn't have the heart to tell him he didn't want to go out tonight. "Come on, you know you'll love it! You always do!" The dirty blonde grinned like a puppy at the red-head. With a sigh Axel consented.

"Fine. When and where?" Axel just hoped that a late night might get rid of his problems.

"So, this is your car?" Roxas asked as he and the other two got out of the sleek, silver car they'd just raced through town with.

"Heh, yeah, my parent's are kind of into giving extravagent gifts." Something in the silver's voice and the look Sora cast at his boyfriend stopped him from saying what he was going to.

"Oh."

"So!" Sora chimed in happily. "You guys ready to look around some? I heard from Selphie that a new candy shop opened up around here. You guys wanna check it out?"

"Sure Sora, do you want to lead the way?" Riku smiled down at the brunet before he took off down the road.

"He's sure got a lot of energy." Roxas muttered to himself.

"That's just his way of coping. Sort of like what you're doing now." Roxas looked up at the taller male with wary eyes. "Don't tell him I told you this, but Sora always acts way more cheery when something's getting him down." Riku looked down at the blonde, expecting some sort of reaction, but he only got a stare.

"He acts happier, when he's sad?"

"Yeah, like you sort of push folks away, he tries to smile at everyone." Roxas stared harder at his cousin's boyfriend.

"How do you know I'm not always like this?"

"Whenever Sora came home from visiting you and your family he'd go on and on about you and how much you'd run around together around Twilight Town. To be honest I always wished I could go with him one day and meet you, but . . .,"

'_Yeah, but . . ., that's going to be the motto of my life._' Roxas kept walking down the street with Riku as they slowly made their way towards where Sora was asking some guy for directions.

"You just head up the street a little ways and then it should be on your right. The next intersection, I think." The guy had really pink hair and was dressed up in some fanciful get up, all flowing and everything.

"Oh! Hey guys! I just got directions for the to the new candy shop. Come on, let's go!" Sora waved good-bye to the fancy guy and the man smiled back with a little wave himself before Sora took Riku's left arm and intertwined his hand with the silveret's. The boyfriends fell into a light conversation, inviting Roxas in as well, but he told them he wanted to look around while they were walking.

The light buzz of conversation next to him felt comforting as he thought about what Riku had said. He knew he wasn't as sociable as he was before the accident, but he didn't think he was really pushing everyone away. _I wonder if I should talk to Sora later. . . maybe I should try to be a bit more . . . nicer._

"So-," Roxas started, but was immediately interrupted.

"Here it is! Doesn't it look cool?" Sora held his hands out as if the shop was his pride and joy.

The place looked more like a coffee shop than a candy shop, but Roxas wasn't complaining. The building itself was an olive green color that became a tannish color for the roof. The name of the shop was printed on a large, painted, wooden plaque that read 'Kingdom Coffees and Cakes'. 'Well, I was right about the coffee part.' Roxas thought to himself.

"Uh, Sora, you sure this is a candy shop?" Riku asked, noticing the fact that 'candy' wasn't in the name at all.

"Of course. Selphie said that they had great liquorice and the cakes are pretty good, too." Sora walked into the shop, the bell on the door jangling as the other two followed suit.

"Of course you'd come for the frosting." Riku sighed to himself as they walked over to the line. The inside smelled of coffee and sugar, not such a bad pairing, Roxas thought to himself as he scanned over the menu.

"I'm tellin' you Ax, we've got to invite someone else to come along with us. You've nixayed Xigbar and Xaldin so how 'bout . . . Larxene! She's great for a party!"

"No way. I'd invite Saix before that crazy bitch. Last time she came along with us she got wasted and couldn't drive us home even though _she _was the designated driver."

"Aw comeon Ax-,"

"No Dem. It can just be you and me, maybe Saix if you really want - oh, sorry there." Roxas was hit in the shoulder from behind and had stumbled a bit, causing himself to bump into Riku. When he looked to see who it was he looked directly into the eyes of the guy from yesterday.

"You!" They both shouted as the red-head pointed at the Roxas. The blonde was surprised he had run into this guy of all people, but he quickly got over his surprise and started to yell at him.

"The hell are you doing here?" He shouted. People began to throw glances at the area in which Roxas was standing.

"Listen kid-," Axel tried placating.

"I'm _not _a kid. Now what are you doing here?"

"All right, _kid_, it's a coffee shop, why else would I be here?"

"I told you, I'm not a kid, and how should I know what you're doing here?"

"Well, it's a coffee shop, I don't know why anyone would want to be here if it wasn't to drink coffee."

"Well you know what? We're not! We're getting candy!" _Oh, wow, Roxas, smooth, really_, the blonde thought angrily to himself.

"Really, you actually like sweet things? Wait," Axel held up a hand before the blonde started to bite his head off again. "I'm sorry about yesterday, okay? There, can't we have a truce?"

"Hell no." Roxas spat out as the red-head's face fell a bit. _Shit, I should really stop being pissy, but it's his fault. _

"Whatever brat. Come on Demyx, let's go before someone throws another hissy fit." Axel quickly drew back out the door, rolling his eyes at Roxas as a sandy haired blonde waved awkwardly on his way after the red-head.

"Roxas? You okay?" Sora asked timidly, worrying what the other guy meant by sorry about yesterday, but all he got was a wave and quick response.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll go save us a seat." Roxas brushed off Sora's outstretched hand and quickly made his way into a booth near the windows. He huffed out an angry sigh and saw a pair of motorcycles race down the street which made his gut twist with a small feeling of guilt.

"Do you really think he's all right?" Sora asked Riku, his blue eyes full of concern for his cousin.

"Hmm, I think he's just trying to deal right now." Riku moved forward in the line, looking at the display case for what he wanted to buy.

"But . . .," Sora was still caught up on Roxas' change of personality.

"Don't worry. Do you want to go talk to him? I'll pay for your food." Riku squeezed Sora's hand in encouragement.

"Thanks Riku, you're the best." Sora gave his boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek before moving over to the booth. The blonde was staring out the huge window and sighing, definetly not a good sign. Sora took a deep breath before braving the hectic waters that were Roxas.

"Hey Rox." Sora grinned as the teen looked stunned for a moment. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Huh? Ah- no, it's just that no one's called me that in a while. I was just . . . surprised." He looked back out the window and sighed again.

"Oh. Um . . . do you want to talk about it?" Sora looked hopefully over the table, willing his cousin to talk about his feelings. Roxas on his part looked skeptically over at his cousin, wondering why Sora was interested in him.

"Um . . . no th-," Sora's face fell a little bit and another twinge of guilt wiggled into Roxas' stomach. "Sure. I'll talk. What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Everything! I want to know how you're doing?"

"Um . . . I don't know to be honest. I feel hollow. Like the accident just sucked everything out of me." Roxas looked away and out the window, feeling foolish for saying that out loud.

"That's nothing to feel bad about. When I was younger- do you remember how Kairi and I had a dog? Well, one day it ran away and I cried for days on end." Sora blushed a bit. "I know that a dog doesn't really compare to family, but-."

"Wasn't it that really big thing? With the weird name?"

"Pluto!" Sora smiled up at his cousin.

"Yeah! I remember him. He was a pretty cool dog. I always wondered what happened to him, but then we stopped coming over so much. . ." Roxas drifted off again, but Sora saw a small smile play across his face.

"Yeah, but we still saw each other sometimes." Sora felt a tug at his chest as he folded his hands on top of the table and a small tear fell down his cheek. Roxas looked over in time to see the brunet wipe it away quickly and he smiled a tiny bit.

"Thanks Sora. I promise I'll talk later. Just . . . maybe not now." Sora looked up at the blonde and saw his cousin wipe away a tiny tear. They both grinned goofily at each other while Riku came over with the food and drinks hoping for the best.

* * *

Okay, Riku's car is an Audi R8, very sleek, and that seemed to fit Riku a bit. I'm not sure who his parents are, but they're rich, so if you have an idea I'm open for it.

R&R is appreciated. thanks.


	6. Smile like You Mean it

"So, do you know when Tidus and Zexion are going to meet up with us?" Sora asked Riku as the silveret sat down in the booth. Sea green eyes flickered down to his watch before examining the coffee shop.

"They should be here sometime soon. I don't know why they would be late-." His worry was for naught as a blue-haired teen and a rambunctious blonde crashed through the door.

"Come on Zexy, help me out will you? We've got to find So-,"

"There they are." Roxas watched the blue haired guy point a finger at his table and the other teen's eyes follow it. The blonde wore a tan vest over a white t-shirt and olive shorts with worn, beach-colored flip-flops clicking against the floor. The guy with the blue hair was a bit odder. His hair was messily arrayed over his head, going off in every direction, and he wore a black jacket that zipped up and black jeans that clung to his form more so than usual pants. As Roxas stared at the two newcomers, Sora and Riku called over to them.

"Hey, guys, over here!" Riku waved over to the pair.

"Hey Zexion! Tidus!" Sora turned around to face his friends, smiling like he'd just won the lottery. Once his friends were standing in front of the booth Sora smiled at Roxas.

"Roxas, meet two of my best friends. Zexion." Sora held his hand out to the blueberry head. "And Tidus." The sandy haired kid. "Guys, meet my cousin Roxas. He's moving into my house."

"Aw man, serious?" Tidus moaned as he sat next to Roxas and Zexion pulled up a chair from one of the tables. "Lucky, we've only got a couple more weeks of school. Man, you probably won't even have to take the finals. Gah, so unfair."

"That's the reason people go to school Tidus, to take the finals. If anything, because he won't be taking the finals, Roxas might have to take summer school." Zexion spoke to the table rather than to any of the four other people that sat around him.

"Hey! Don't frighten the poor guy! Listen Rox, it'll be okay. If you cram with Zexy here I'm sure you'll be able to take the finals! Right, Zexy?"

"Who said I'd help him?"

"Hey, be nice Zex!" Sora chortled into his iced coffee and Riku grinned at two of his oldest friends as they bickered about why the blueberry should help Roxas or not.

"Oh! Hey Roxas!" Tidus turned to face Roxas full on.

"Um. Yes?"

"You're coming to the movies, right? And then we're all going out to the clubs, right?" Tidus looked around at everyone expectantly. Zexion didn't seem to mind what they did later on and neither did Riku for the most part, but Sora looked guiltily over at Roxas.

"It's okay if you don't want to come Roxas, I'd get it if you wanted to go home or something."

"Huh? No, I wouldn't mind going out tonight. Um, where though?" Riku and Tidus grinned at the new blonde as he ran a nervous hand through his hair, Sora smiling happily.

"Now you've got them spun up." Zexion muttered, resting his chin on his hand, listening to his friends go on about the clubs they frequented. Everyone bombarded Roxas with questions about what he liked as the sun marched across the sky.

Axel sped up the road, racing around the street, trying to loosen himself up. Seeing the kid, Roxas, again was a bit of a stunner, especially when it turned out he hadn't put the previous day behind him. The red-head bit his lip, remembering how hard he'd been hit the day before in the graveyard.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself, sliding to a stop as Demyx flew by him. Axel reached up and removed the black helmet and took a deep breath. Underneath he felt like he was going to explode from his frustration. No matter what he did, Roxas' face just wouldn't get out of his head. All that anger and fear just boiling under his skin sort of freaked Axel out and reminded him of Reno for a moment. "Dammit!"

Demyx was back down the hill and leaning against his own bike, watching Axel beat himself up about whatever it was he was beating himself up about. He let his friend punch the motorcycle a couple of times before he spoke up.

"You know, you keep doing that and the motorcycle won't like you anymore." The sandy-haired guy smiled at his friend's bewildered look.

"What?"

"Motorcycles can be very tempermental when their owners don't take good care of them." Demyx grinned as Axel's face turned from bewilderment to disbelief.

"Jeez Dem, are you mental?" Axel sighed as he looked down over the side of the hill, watching the city move around like an ant hill.

"Y'know, we could stay here and I could let you mope around for hours on end, but I'm not that nice of a friend. So-," Demyx held up a finger and grinned at the red-head. "I'm gonna call a couple people and then we're going to head back to the city and have ourselves a bit of a party. 'Kay? LET'S GO!" Demyx didn't wait for an answer before he put his helmet back on and began racing away. Axel watched his friend speed away down the darkening hill before he started to follow after him, chuckling as he quickly caught up to Demyx and hoping a night of distractions would block the blonde from his mind.

Roxas blinked into the bright lights of the parking lot, surprised it was already getting so dark. The movie had been one of those action flicks with a bit of romance, all right in his taste, but the plot was a bit lacking. The sunset made the sky burn with orange tendrils as time wore on as the five boys walked along the sidewalk. The town had been nice during the day, but a whole other side woke up when the sun started to fall. Couples of all kinds strolled down the street hand in hand and arm in arm. Clubs were also starting to get business as lines formed, jostling one another for the shortest wait. Riku and Sora were strolling down the side walk, talking to each other closely while Zexion, Tidus, and Roxas followed a little behind.

Tidus was giving looks to every girl that passed by him, some of which even smiled at him, but Zexion and Roxas stayed silent no matter how many googly eyes were aimed at them. As they walked by club after club, slowly going further into Midgar's more industrious side, Roxas wondered where they were going to end up and how on earth they were supposed to get home.

"How much further are we going to go?" Roxas asked aloud.

"Shouldn't be too much longer. I think it's just around the next corner." Tidus swatted Roxas on the shoulder as Sora turned around.

"Just stick with us cuz, we'll get you the furthest." Sora grinned back at the trio as he and Riku turned a quick corner. When Roxas saw where they were going he seriously considered the idea that the four of them had mafia connections.

The building was a huge, black monster that rose higher than most of the buildings around the area and glowed with a neon green. The windows all seemed to be clogged with some sort of gas, or film. A line ran from outside of the doors to about where the street reached the main drag. People were pushing and jostling one another, trying to get closer, but Riku and Sora just forged ahead.

"Come on Roxy, you comin'?" Tidus waved over to the blonde as he looked around bewildered.

"We're going in _there_? But- what about the line?"

"Huh? Oh, Riku's folks own this place so he can get in for free, so can anyone he brings along." Tidus smiled at Roxas' face. "Aw come on Roxy, you're so naive."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Roxas moved closer as they moved forward, dodging most of the people who were waiting in line.

"Well," Tidus moved in closer to Roxas so not so many people could hear him. "Riku and his folks don't get along all that well. They don't quite agree with him and Sora being together, so they've been on ice with each other for a while." Tidus nodded his head sagely as they stood in front of a large, bald, bouncer.

"Hey Rude. It's just us. Oh, and Roxas. He's Sora's cousin." The bouncer nodded at the five boys as they passed the velvet rope and entered an entirely different world. Roxas' last view of the outside world was the bouncer, Rude, closing off the velvet rope and guarding the door like a pitbull.

"Don't worry 'bout him Roxas." Sora said, shocking Roxas a bit. The brunet had let go of Riku's hand in favor of Roxas'. "He's a big softy, but he was hired for his looks." Sora grinned as they all made their way thru the crowd.

"Where are we going?" Roxas called out, hoping Sora could hear him over the noise all right.

"Up." That was all Roxas heard Sora say as the mass of people pushed and pulled them along with the beat. Roxas wondered how they were going to get up if everyone was stuffed together, but he kept a firm grip on Sora's hand as he was pulled through the beating current. Music assaulted him from all sides as the five of them made their way towards the center of the room. Bright, flashing lights came from a bar where neon lights burst and Roxas could see some people try to stand on top of the countertop before they were pushed or pulled back down.

Finally, they all arrived at the bar where a tall brunet was handing over drinks quicker than Roxas thought possible and a blue haired woman took orders and slapped the pages up over the taps. The woman was slowly making her way towards where Riku stood and as she moved closer the silveret called out.

"A fuzzy naval." He called out, grinning as she jotted it down before looking up.

"Sorry, we don't- oh! Hey Riku!" The blue-haired woman smiled at the teen and looked at the crowd that was surrounding him, but then she saw a blonde head bob up over the side with a curious look on his face she froze. "Ven? Ventus?" She rushed over to where Roxas was leaning over and grabbed the blonde's hand. "Is that really you? Terra get over here!" The tall brunet rushed over after yelling for one of the bar monkeys to man the counter.

"Huh?" Roxas looked up at the blue-haired woman with a vague feeling of deja vu, but he could have sworn he'd never seen her before in his life. "I-I'm not Ventus. . ."

"His name's Roxas, Aqua. Hey Terra." Riku smiled as the brunet came over to stand beside Aqua a bit protectively.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry bout that Roxas, you just look like one of our old friends. Uncanny resemblance, right Terra?" The blunette, Aqua, pointed behind herself at the brunet, a sad smile playing across his lips.

"Yeah, he sure does." Terra didn't linger on Roxas too long before looking over at Riku. "So, what's up?"

"Just wondering where all the beautiful women are." Tidus grinned, looking around the club, grinning like a cartoon wolf.

"Running from you no doubt." Sora laughed, hitting Tidus on the shoulder before looking at Terra. "We came thinking tonight was going to be big. Is it?" Aqua and Terra grinned knowingly at each other.

"Well . . . not that we're supposed to tell you-,"

"Tell us! Tell us!" Sora and Tidus bounced up and down in place.

"There's supposed to be some big shindig up on the top four floors and you know how big those parties get. We actually have to get up there around ten." Aqua smiled at the five teens knowing they'd get up there with no problem. "Make sure you don't go too crazy, otherwise it'll be on our heads." The two bartenders waved goodbye to them as the boys said 'see ya' and tried to make their way over to the stairs in the center of the room. Roxas wondered who Ventus was for a moment, but that was quickly gone as he was swept up in the music again and dragged by his cousin up the seemingly endless flights of stairs.


	7. Cross Hairs

"Damn Dem, you could have told me this place was enormous!" Axel and Demyx had been in The Nox Noctis for atleast an hour and they still hadn't found anyone.

"Well it's not my fault!" Demyx crowed. "I _told _them to hang out at the bar, it's not _my _fault if they decide to go wander around!" Demyx tried peeking over the heads of the dancers, but nothing stood out to him.

"Damn it. Why did you even invite them?" Axel growled, running a hand through his red locks. The body heat and thrum of rhythm from the mounds of dancers around him had started out fine and all, but when he started getting frustrated the constant pounding was starting to get annoying.

"Hey, Saix said they'd try to find us. Larxene and Marly are the ones who would have run off. I'm not quite sure about Luxord though . . ."

"Did you invite dumbass?" Axel barked at the blonde as he shoved some girl off himself. She smelt like she was already wasted. _Man, kids these days._

"Xemnas? Yeah, why?"

"Well there you go. You know Saix follows that guy around like a lost puppy!" Axel scratched at the back of his neck, the heat getting to him. "Come on, let's check the upper floors. I heard there's supposed to be some big party and if there's booze Larxene and Luxord will have swarmed the bar like flies." Axel looked over to his friend smirking at some brunet. "Come on moron." The red head huffed angrily and rolled his eyes as he dragged the blonde away from the brunet and stalked his way over to the stairs and started his angry romp to the upper floors.

Roxas had been dragged through the enormous crowd and forced to dance with Sora for a bit, which was really awkward on his part as he didn't quite enjoy dancing all of a sudden. But he was saved however when Riku came over and 'stole' Sora away. He gratefully receded to one of the tables that had been shoved away to the sides where Zexion sat and Tidus tried to catch the eye of some blonde.

"Watch out Tidus, I think that one's a guy." Roxas said, a smirk painted on his face.

"What! How'd you know that?" Tidus quickly broke eye contact with the _definetly _female blonde and stared at Roxas with disbelief.

"I was just joking! Don't worry Tidus, I'm sure she's completely female!" Roxas backtracked suddenly trying to ensure the other blonde that his instincts had been correct. "Hey Tidus! I'm serious! I didn't mean anything by it."

"Naw, it's okay Roxy," Tidus sighed, sitting down next to Zexion with a despondent look on his face. "She wasn't really my type anyway." The blonde sighed again and looked downtrodden as he looked out on the dance floor. "You wanna come and get a drink with me Roxas?"

"Huh? Uh will you cheer up if I do?"

"Sure, come on, my treat." Roxas and Tidus made their way through the jumping, bumping, and occasionally humping crowd towards the bar in the center of the room. The neon lights were the same on this bar as the last, but the bartenders were a couple of rough looking dudes. One had a scar running down his eye while he wore an eyepatch on the other, whereas the other one was this really hulking dude. The guy stood atleast a full head over everyone and had wavy brown hair.

"Whaddya want kid? We don't serve unless you're legal." The eyepatch guy barked at the two of them sending a slight shiver running down Roxas' neck.

"We are legal patchy!" Tidus squawked, looking like a baby chocobo rather than a fake twenty-one year old.

"Heh, sure you are kid, and I'm the pretty princess of Rock City. Not legal, no service." The eyepatch started to turn away, but Roxas called out to him.

"Two waters then." He fished around in his pockets for his wallet, pulled out what money he had, and gave the eyepatch the money.

"All right kid. Hey Lex, two waters. Bottled or tap?" The bartender looked down at Roxas and Tidus hardly waiting for an answer.

"Bottled." Roxas replied quickly.

"Bottled!" The giant reached under the counter and pulled up two bottled waters and tossed them to the cyclops. "Here ya go kiddies." He grinned at the two blondes, the taller of which stuck his tongue out at him while the shorter just skittered away back into the frenzy of the dance floor.

As Tidus and Roxas reached the table a tall blonde woman fell onto Tidus laughing hysterically as an older blonde guy reached over for her.

"Ha ha ha ha! *hic* Luxxy! Get down from there!" The lady hiccuped as she reached for the older guy who was laughing along with her.

"Come on pet, let's go find those idiots we were s'possed to find." The guy grabbed the drunk lady from Tidus, but he didn't sound much better than she did.

"Um, sir, are you okay?" Tidus asked as Roxas wished the guy wasn't such a softy. The two drunks looked over at the two of them and the lady began to coo warbley.

"Oooh, look Luxxy, isn't that one cute? Can I keep him?" The blonde was pointing at Roxas with a vicious looking pink nail. The older guy looked dazed as he saw Roxas for the first time and he seemed to struggle for words.

"Hmm, don't think so pet, he's scared *hic* stiff of you." Luxxy heaved the blonde woman up a bit more as she crowed on about how she wished she had a puppy that looked like 'that cute little whelp', but Roxas grabbed Tidus' arm before he heard any more about it. The two of them rushed through the crowds of people back to where they thought Zexion would be sitting off to the side.

"Hey! Roxas! Chill man!" Tidus tried calling to the blonde, but the pressure from everyone was starting to get to him. All the body heat pressed in against him and seemed to clench his chest as sweat started to drip down the nape of his neck. He rushed through the rest of the mob and finally made it over to the side and took a breath as he looked for Zexion and their table. As soon as he found the blue haired teen he noticed something was different about him. The guy was smiling.

"Well would you look at that?" Tidus muttered as he looked where Roxas was staring. "Come on dude, let's go find out what's making Zexy smile." The clamorous blonde strode over to where his friend was sitting and nodded to Roxas knowingly, though for what reason Roxas was unsure.

The blue's smile wasn't anything like Tidus', vibrant and bright, but rather a small, tiny smile that was more than Roxas had seen from him the whole day.

"Hey Zexy!" Tidus called over to the table as the two blondes scooted into the chairs across from Zexion.

"Hey." The guy muttered, looking calmly at the two of them.

"So, you going to tell us who you met?" Tidus grinned at Zexion as his tiny smile became a little grin and Roxas swore there was a very minute blush spreading on his cheeks. However, from the guy's voice you couldn't tell he was happy in the slightest.

"Um. No one, just a guy. He offered to buy me a drink and said he'd be back real quick."

"Oh really," Tidus crooned, his wide smile growing even wider. They didn't carry their conversation on much longer as Sora and Riku stumbled over, laughing together loudly.

"Ooh boy, I'm tired." Sora grinned over at the three teens sitting around the table, but he didn't make a move to sit down. Instead he and Riku stood near the front of the table and wrapped an arm around each other's waist.

"Right, _sure _you are Sora." Riku sighed, grinning cat-like at his boyfriend's sweaty face. "I was the one who asked if we could stop a moment." Riku kissed Sora right on the mouth just before the brunet could reply. Tidus cat-called to them as they stayed like that for a couple more moments before breaking apart.

"Come on guys, we're all single here, no need to gloat!" Tidus laughed for a moment before going on. "Well, at least me and Roxy here are. Someone actually came over to talk to Zexion!" Sora smiled over at the blue-haired teen who looked away shyly with his one eye as Riku asked who the lucky guy was.

"His name's Demyx." The blunet muttered, a small smile playing with his lips again. "He went to go get me a drink."

"Oh ho! Sounds nice, what's he look like?" Riku played, pulling Sora closer.

"Uh, he's blonde, but dirtier than Roxas' hair and he has teal eyes. He's a little taller than you Riku." The blunet paused a moment. "He's right over there. See him?" Zexion pointed into the mass of people that were jostling one another as they danced. For a moment the four guys didn't see anyone coming over with drinks in their hands, but finally a guy came into view. He was like Zexion had described.

"Here you go Zexion." The blonde smiled down at Zexion and then up at the four others. "Nice to meet you, I'm Demyx Brooks. Oh, and here's a couple of my pals." Demyx pointed to his left, back into the thralls of the mob and they saw a group of people heading over. Roxas noticed that the two drunkards from before were swaying together and were only held up from the support of a pink haired stranger that looked familiar. He also saw another blue haired guy that walked beside a tan, gray haired man, but when he looked at the next person his heart immediately raced and his mind told his body to _move_. _Fast_. Because the person he saw next had flaming red hair that was messily arranged in spikes all over his head. Axel Egan was walking toward his table and Roxas Strife was running away as fast as he could.

"Hey! Rox! Where are you going?" Sora called after his cousin. Axel looked up from his scowl and watched the short blonde race away through the crowd right next to him. For a moment he wondered what he should do, but when he saw the blonde's vibrant blue eyes look directly at his own green eyes he knew it was his fault. And if it was _his _fault then he wanted, for some weird reason, to make it up to the racing blonde. So he turned right around and followed after the boy.


	8. Monsters in a Matchbook

This is the longest chapter I'll write for this fanfic . . . maybe. Can't make any promises, but the reason it's so long is because I _really_ wanted to end the club part. It might be a little rushed, but I'm just writing this without a ton of planning before hand.

So, read and review please. Thanks. :)

* * *

Roxas pushed through the floor, dodging flailing arms and barely seeing the faces that flew by him. Voices were screaming and yelling at one another, but he imagined that someone was calling out his name just behind him. Hands flew in front of his face, but he tried to brush them away as he dragged himself up and up and up the stairs. People were hanging over the railings as he trudged up them, trying to find the door leading outside. His breath was coming quicker and quicker as the noises droned on around him, his heartbeat quickening along side it. A tall, skanky looking woman made a pass at the blonde as he flew by her, but he brushed her off and looked freaked as his eyes met hers.

"Hey kid, you okay?" The boy didn't answer her, rather he raced on up the stairs and out onto the roof top. She watched after him for a moment before a spiky red head flew by her and followed after the boy. She wondered for a second if she should follow, but her partner returned and they paraded out onto the dance floor.

Axel burst out onto the roof and saw the blonde standing near the edge. His heart leapt into his mouth as he raced over to where the younger boy stood. The blonde looked so odd standing there with his eyes closed, but whatever was racing thru his mind Axel only knew he wanted to stop him from going further. He slowly moved close enough to the blonde that if he wanted to he could reach out and touch him. He almost did as he raised his hand, sneaking closer and closer to the thin arm, but the boy reacted quickly.

"Don't." The boy barked, cracking at the end softly. His fierce blue eyes fixed Axel's green stare and the older male found he couldn't move under the sharp gaze. His hand was poised over the blonde's arm, but he could no longer make it reach out any further even across the few inches that seperated him and his quarry. "Please." Axel looked back up and into the eyes of the blue eyed blonde, noticing something in them screaming out. Fear.

"It's okay." The green eyes seemed to try calming Roxas as he looked into them. The red head was slowly straightening up, holding his hand out palm up. "It's okay Roxas. You can come down now." Roxas closed his eyes, trying to shut out the soft whisper that floated around him. Trying to shut out the green fires that seemed to bore into his own blue waters. "Roxas, look at me. You can come down now." The green fires appeared again and Roxas felt the urge to fight against them, if only for a moment. _But they look scared_, he thought to himself.

"Why are you afraid?" Roxas asked softly. The green fires shivered and Roxas felt his entire being shiver along with them.

"Because I want you to come down." Axel said, still quiet as if he was trying to coax a wild dog or cat.

"Why are you talking like that?" Roxas turned to face Axel full on, his weight shifting a little as he turned on the edge of the building.

"Because I really want you to come down from the ledge. Please." There it was again, that quiet shiver. Roxas shivered along with the quavering fires, a warm spot rubbing into his stomach.

"Why do you want me to come down?" The pressure he had felt inside the club was falling off him, loosening the heavy pounding in his head.

"Because I don't want you to leave me." _Huh?_

"Why would I leave you? I've only just met you." Roxas took a small step back, his heel slipping a bit. His eyes widened as his stomach heaved into his throat and he looked at the hand the green eyes held out to him. Axel moved quicker than he thought he'd be able to and grabbed to the boy's hand hard.

"No!" He shouted, pulling on the boy's limb as hard as possible. The boy was lighter than he expected and the force caused Roxas to fly forward, barrelling into Axel's chest. With an 'oof' the two of them fell onto the rooftop and lay there for a moment, breathing as if they'd just run a marathon.

"Thank you." Roxas muttered as he pushed himself up off of the tall red head, his hands on either side of the man's chest. His stomach was still fighting for room in his throat as he looked down at the green fires that stared up at him with a question lurking in them.

"No problem." Axel stared at the blonde and felt his heart pounding against his chest. They laid there for a moment before Roxas' cheeks started coloring and he pushed himself over onto the other side of the red head. A sigh escaped him.

"Why do I keep running into you?" Roxas asked aloud.

"What?" Axel looked over at the blonde who was now staring up into the night sky, the thrum of night life pounding underneath them.

"Well, yesterday, this afternoon in the cafe, and now in the club. It's weird, I keep seeing you everywhere." Roxas turned to look at him with a small pout. _That's kinda cute_, Axel thought before shaking himself. _He thinks you're the root of all evil, remember that!_

"You're not stalking me, are you?"

"WHAT? NO! Hell no! Demyx brought me here to cheer me up is all and he heard this place was pretty good. Why are you here?" Axel put his hands behind his head, mirroring Roxas' position, and looked up into the night sky. Roxas turned back to look into the stars, too.

"Tidus, my cousin's friend, wanted to go clubbing. Plus, apparently my cousin's boyfriend's parents own this place."

"Really?" Axel grinned at that thought. _Free clubbing, sweet._

"Yeah." Roxas paused before going on again. "Sorry 'bout yesterday."

"Why?" Axel moved one of his arms so he could look at the blonde again with an arched eyebrow.

"Because I wasn't the only one who lost someone." Roxas looked away from Axel, a little embarrassed. "So . . . sorry."

"Huh. Thanks . . . But, my brother and I had been slipping for a while. Don't get me wrong, it sucks like hell that he's gone, but . . . he hadn't been my brother for a real long time." The red head and blonde stayed like that for a while longer before a loud hooting and hollering could be heard from the party beneath them.

"Hey," Axel said, sitting up from off the ground and grinning over at Roxas, his eyes smiling. "Wanna go down there and dance with me?" Roxas made a face at the red head as he sat up as well.

"What?"

"Dance. With me. You know what that is right?" Axel chuckled as Roxas shoved him in the shoulder a bit. "Come on, you know you want to."

"And why the hell would I dance with you? I hated you yesterday."

"Because," Axel grabbed Roxas arms and pulled him up off the rooftop. "that's exactly why you should dance with me. So we can make a fresh start." The red head pulled the blonde along the way, but Roxas stopped for a moment.

"Axel?" The blue waters met the green fires again, feeling unsure of themselves.

"Yeah kid?" Axel grinned as the blue eyes rolled.

"I wasn't really going to jump or anything. I just wanted to feel the wind." Roxas' cheeks colored a little as the taller male pulled him in for a hug-headlock thing.

"I know Roxas, I know. Now comeon, before we miss something!" The red head flew down the stairs and as soon as Roxas stepped into the stairwell the pressure from before assaulted him to the point of asphixiation. However, Axel's hand was still gripping his own and as the taller male was also stronger, Roxas was pulled into the current and constant beat of the club. People jostled them and pushed them from every direction, making it sort of uncomfortable for Roxas, but Axel kept a strong grip on him so he couldn't escape too easily.

"Come Rox, dance." Axel grinned at the awkward seventeen year old with cat eyes as music was filtered in all around them. Roxas knew the type of dancing that this music meant. Jumping, bumping, and raising a fist in the air. _That isn't exactly dancing_, he thought to himself as the music started to change a bit. Everything seemed to stop as people wondered where the music had gone.

"Axel, wh-,"

"Wait for it. Wait for it." A guitar was playing over the P.A. softly and everyone started to lower themselves as if they were waiting for something. Then it all snapped. Everyone started jumping up and down and clapping with the music. Axel was laughing just in front of him, but Roxas couldn't hear him over all the noise. When the red head noticed Roxas wasn't enjoying himself he reached over and grabbed the slight wrist, pulling the boy along with him as he started dancing like a loon. Soon, as the song went on and Roxas started getting the beat a bit more he knew when things were going to happen. They kept dancing like that for a while longer, until finally they decided they'd try to find their groups.

Music still played over the P.A. system as the two of them sat down at one of the completely discarded tables at the edge of the room. Roxas flipped open his phone and noticed a ton of texts had come from Sora while he'd run off and the blonde felt sort of bad that he hadn't answered back. The first thing he did was send a reply to one of his cousin's questions of whether he was okay or not and as soon as that was finished he sent another wondering where he and the rest of his friends were. Sora's reply came back quickly.

**Sora**: _WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? _

**Roxas**: _i was with Axel, we're up on the top floor. sorry bout earlier . . ._

**Sora**: _. . . . s'okay. we're coming up top with you. go towrds the bar. Riku says Terra and Aqua are there._

**Roxas**: _?_

**Sora**: _the bartenders from b4. remember?_

**Roxas**: _kay. see you._

**Sora**: _bye_.

"So, what do your folks say?" Axel asked, an elbow resting on the table and hand resting under his chin. He was grinning over at Roxas.

"They're gonna meet us over at the bar." Roxas pointed into the thrall of jumping dancers. "A couple of Riku's friends are working there." Roxas looked over at the red head as the green eyes watched his every movement. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously before he unzipped his sweatshirt and tried to breathe a little easier. The green eyes finally stopped watching him and closed as Axel scratched his head and grinned as he looked over out at the dancers.

"You didn't do too bad out there kid. At least," Axel looked over at Roxas mischieviously. "not as bad as I thought you'd do." That comment earned him a swipe at his head.

"Hey, I don't know how to dance to this stuff. Besides," Roxas looked away from the crazy haired red head. "this is the first time I've been to a club." Roxas rolled his eyes as Axel gawked at him over the table.

"Wha? How can you have gone through your entire teenage life and never have gone to a club until tonight? Hey wait a minute there kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" Roxas called back over his shoulder as he made his way over to the bar in the center of the room, jumping and dodging flailing limbs as he felt a familiar presence reach out and grasp him around the wrist.

"Sure you aren't." Axel muttered to himself as he followed the blonde through the mass of bodies. Finally, when they'd arrived at the bar counter he noticed Roxas stride up to the front and call out to someone. A tall brunet looked over at the kid as a slightly shorter, blue haired, woman walked over to where Roxas was leaning.

"Hey Roxas. You look pretty happier." Aqua smiled at the boy who reminded her of her friend as he grinned up at her.

"Hey Aqua, right?" Roxas smiled up at the blunette.

"Yeah, what can I do ya for?" She asked, pulling out a little pad of paper and a pen.

"I'll have a sprite?"

"Sure thing."

"Oh, and, Aqua," Roxas called out to the bartender before she could go off to the next person. "Uh, my friend Axel'll have-" That was when Aqua noticed the tall, green eyed red head that was standing just to the side of Roxas. _Hmm, friend indeed_, Aqua thought to herself, but she smiled at the man anyway.

"I'll have a Michelob Ultra."

"Traditional man, okay then, coming right up. Hey Terra, here's the next one. It'll be right up." Aqua smiled down at Roxas one last time before moving onto the next yammering customer. Axel moved up to the right side of the blonde and leaned against the counter, looking out into the swarm.

"So, how long do you think we have before our pals show up?"

"Well, with Sora I figure we've got a couple seconds before he comes barreling at us." Roxas side glanced at Axel and grinned back at him as Terra put their drinks on the counter and quickly moved on. Axel moved in a little closer as if he was about to say something, but Roxas had been spot on as a speeding bullet crashed into him.

"JEEZUS ROXY! DON'T DO THAT TO ME!" The brunet bullet yelled into his cousin's shoulder. Roxas looked down at the seventeen year old and felt a small seed of guilt plant itself in his gut.

"Sorry Sora. I . . . I was feeling suffocated so I really needed some air." Roxas looked away from the huge, worried eyes that looked directly at him.

"Is that really all it was?" Sora asked, his face set in a semi-stern glare. Roxas let his gaze flicker behind the brunet, taking in the group that had arrived with him. The guy who'd spoken to Zexion walked up to Axel with a worried expression similiar to Sora's, but Roxas couldn't hear what he said to Axel.

"Roxas!" The blonde looked back at his cousin's blue eyes guiltily.

"Uh, yeah, that was all Sora." Roxas muttered as Riku and Zexion came up as well. "Where's Tidus?"

"He found some brunette that was singing and dancing. She actually agreed to dance with him when he asked her." Zexion said, keeping a blank face the entire time.

"They're still swinging around one another a couple floors down." Riku continued, smiling a little at Roxas. Guess he's trying to be supportive or something, Roxas thought to himself grudgingly. He knew he'd have to make it up to Sora some how, but that could wait till tomorrow.

"So, where's the rest of them Dem?" Axel asked his friend.

"Oh, Luxord and Larxene are crashing some where a few floors down and Marluxia's watching out for them. You know, make sure they don't pass out or whatever. And Saix and Xemnas were last seen dancing somewhere, either that or drinking their weight at the bar. Take your pick." Demyx was still smiling, despite the loss of companions.

"I see you're still hanging with the kid's group." Axel raised an eyebrow at the mullet head.

"Huh, yeah. Zexy's pretty cool, though he doesn't say much. I've gotten his favorite music and where he likes to go during his free time out of him. Rock and metal and he likes going to his room, but he begrudged me and said the beach was all right sometimes." Demyx smiled up at the red head as the guy chuckled.

"So you like him huh?"

"Mmm, not bad, but yeah, I 'like' him." The two twenty year olds knocked their elbows together and looked over at the pack of teens. "So, what's next?"

"There's supposed to be some big party going on up here, but a few of us have to get back home. You comin' or stayin' Zex?" The silver haired one nodded at the blue haired one, 'Zexy' as Demyx called him, and the boy replied softly.

"I'll stay a little longer, see if Tidus is gonna give me a ride home or not. Don't worry though, I'll just get a cab if need be."

"Huh? No way man, I can bring you home. I've been told I'm a great driver." Demyx offered sincerely, but Axel cracked up right beside him so his act demolished. "Hey! I have been told I'm a great driver!"

"For a two year old maybe!" Axel laughed to himself as Demyx huffed and hit him on the shoulder.

"Whatever, any way Zexy, what'd'ya say?" Demyx moved over to where the one-eyed eighteen year old stood and started talking on and on.

"So, I guess I'll see you later then. Bye." Riku and Sora were already moving thru the crowd, but Roxas hung back for a second with a little wave for the red head.

"Hold on there shortie." Axel reached an arm out and grabbed Roxas before he could move away. The guy took a pen out of somewhere and spread Roxas' hand flat, scrawling something onto it. "You wouldn't be able to see me later if you didn't have this." The green fires laughed into Roxas face as he looked at his palm. Axel's number was scribbled onto it haphazardly. "See ya kid."

Roxas smiled over his shoulder at the green eyes one last time before he moved into the jumping crowd and disappeared from sight. _Hopefully not for good_, Axel thought, turning around and noticing his beer and the forgotten water for the first time.


	9. White Noise

As soon as Riku had dropped Sora and Roxas off at their home Roxas made his way to the guest room and flopped on top of the bed, not bothering to change into pajamas, or brush his, or anything else he typically would have done before sleeping. Rather, he wanted to remember that night, imprint in his head, and file it away. He stuffed his face into his pillow as a grin popped onto his face.

Sora on the other hand watched as his cousin slipped quietly into the house, trudged up the stairs, and proceeded to bury his face in the pillow. The brunet wondered what it was that his cousin was thinking about and decided the best way to find out was to go directly to the source.

"Hey Roxas." Sora whispered into the dark room.

"Yeah?" The blonde raised half of his face out of the pillow and tried to look at his cousin in the dark.

"Are you going to tell me about earlier?" Uh-oh.

"When I ran?" Roxas sat up on the bed and flicked the bedside lamp on, temporairly blinding himself and Sora.

"Oh ow, uh, can you close the door? Y'know, so we won't wake anyone up."

"Sure," Sora turned around and shut the door as quietly as he could and looked back around at the blonde. "So, you going to tell me?" Roxas tried avoiding Sora's eyes, but he talked any way.

"Uh, well, you know back in the cafe? The guy that I yelled at?" Blue eyes found each other looking for confirmation.

"Yes. And he was at the club."

"Well, I saw him in the group that one guy, Demyx I think, was pointing at, and I kinda freaked."

"Why did you freak?"

"Well, first he was at the grave yard, then the cafe, and then at-,"

"Woah, wait the grave yard? Like, yesterday?"

"Uh, yeah. He was there apologizing." Roxas looked up to see Sora's reaction to that. A quirked eyebrow was all he found.

"Um, why? Apologizing for what? Did he owe Uncle Cloud a debt?" Sora laughed for a moment, but Roxas just looked away. Uh-oh again.

"N-no. His last name's Egan." Roxas looked up for a second and then back down. "He was Reno Egan's, the drunk driver's, brother." Both of them were silent for a while before Sora broke it.

"Shit Rox, I'm really sorry." A burning sensation rose up in Sora's throat as he sat next to his cousin on the bed. "How did- what did you do?"

"I cussed him out, what else would I do? Jeezus, the guy lost a brother and I cussed him out as he was apologizing to my family when he didn't even _do _anything." Roxas laughed harshly, hitting a hand to his forehead. He felt so embarassed at that fact, knowing he should have kept his cool, tried to even everything out right there. _But . . ., _he thought,_ it turned out all right I suppose_.

"So that's why you yelled at him when you saw him again. No wonder. I'm really sorry Roxas, but what about earlier. You guys seem to have made up. I think. . ."

"Yeah we did. He's not too bad, he even forgave me for yelling at him, said he 'understands' which . . . I suppose he does." Roxas shrugged a little. "Oh, which reminds me." Roxas looked down at his hand and noticed the numbers were already starting to smudge.

"He gave you his number?" Sora asked, quirking his eyebrow again, but a smile accompanied that motion, too.

"Uh, yeah, he did. Should I text him mine? But, what if he doesn't have text? Crap, I should have given him mine at the club." Roxas pulled out his cell phone and added 'Axel' as a contact, knowing he would probably never put another 'Axel' in as a contact.

"Don't worry 'bout it. Most people have text nowadays, but," Sora got up off of the bed and moved towards the door, just ready to open it. "To keep his interest up, you might want to text him tomorrow. Later." Sora chuckled at his cousin's surprised face. _Sometimes you are just too easy to read _Roxy, Sora laughed to himself as he made his way into his own room and settling down for a nice, hopefully relaxing sleep.

The next morning came and went and Roxas and Sora only stirred when noon time came around. Roxas groaned as he stuttered awake, opening and closing his eyes, rubbing them awake until, finally, he was able to get up off the bed without feeling too much regret.

"Ugh, what day is it?" Sora asked as he, too, stumbled out of his bedroom.

"Sunday . . . I think." Roxas looked over at his cousin and had to smile at the sight of the worst bed head he'd ever seen on his cousin before. "Uh, you want the shower or can I grab it first?"

"You. I'll go see what we have for breakfast." Sora perked up as he walked down the stairs smelling something that smelt suspiciously like-

"Blueberry bagels! Sweet!" The brunet glided over to the toaster and was about to pull them up when a piece of paper hit the back of his head. "Whaa?"

"Don't even think about it kid. Those are mine." His dad, Leon, was walking over from the living room and he had his usual, stoic face on as he reached over his son and grabbed the very hot bagel ends.

"Aw come on Dad, shouldn't you be at work or something?"

"Nope." Leon was too busy buttering his bagels to say any more. Sora went over to the fridge and pulled out the bagel bag and grabbed one out. As he sat at the kitchen table, waiting for his food to finish, his mom came in with a beach cover up over her yellow polka-dot bikini.

"Oh, Sora, sweetie, did you already finish your breakfast? I had a bagel in the toaster for you." Tifa absentmindedly waved over at the hot toaster as she rummaged around in the fridge for something.

"What? But! Dad!" Sora whined looking at his dad with a stubborn pout. The older man smirked at his son, finishing the last of his blueberry bagel off.

"Well, you weren't fast enough." The older brunet walked out of the kitchen and over to the stairs, calling out to his wife. "I'm going to go change Tifa."

"Okay, I'll tell Kairi we're leaving. Sora, your father and I are heading down to the beach today. Wanna come?" Tifa leaned out from behind the refrigerator's door and looked to her son as he buttered his bagels.

"Uh- ouch!- No thanks Mom, I'm going to just hang today, maybe catch up on the boob tube." Sora grinned as he bit into the buttered blueberry bagel and watched his mom pack a meal big enough to feed the entire family into the little picnic basket. Tifa nodded, already guessing that that would be her son's response.

"Hmm, do you think Roxas would want to?"

"Heh, no, he's probably as tired as I am." Sora grinned into his breakfast as the water shut off up above.

"On that note, where were you guys last-"

"Uh, gotta go Mom. Love you! Have fun!" Sora stuffed the last of his bagel in his mouth before racing up the stairs, narrowly missing Roxas as he stepped out of the bathroom in his towel, and into the bathroom. Roxas watched as the door was slammed shut on his face and wondered if he should ask Sora to toss his clothes out so he could take them to his room, but instead he chose to ramble off to his own room as Kairi came stalking out of hers.

"SORA!" Kairi yelled, hammering the door that her brother had locked just for this occasion. "Open up! I called it next!"

"Sorry Kairi, you snooze you lose! Don't worry! I'll take a really long, hot shower so you can cool off in the freezing cold water that'll be left!" The brunet chuckled evilly as his sister huffed back into her room, taking care to slam it so hard that it rattled on its hinges. So, after he turned on the fan and opened a window, Sora proceeded to take a very steamy, hot shower, but I won't get into detail and shall skip over to Roxas instead who, at this moment was rummaging through his suitcase and pulling out a teal, two-third sleeve shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Feeling a lot better after his shower, though still sort of tired, Roxas meandered on down to the kitchen where his Aunt Tifa and Uncle Leon were packing supplies for what looked like an entire weekend.

"Where are you guys going?"

"Oh!" Tifa called as Roxas walked in, she waved her nephew over with an energetic hand. "Perfect timing Roxas! Could you help us out? We need to carry this all out to the car."

"Uh, sure, but where are you-"

"The beach." Leon strode past Roxas, who was being weighed down with an incredibly large picnic basket, and out the front door. Roxas quickly followed after him as Tifa closed the refrigerator and grabbed a little cooler.

"But, why do you guys need so much food?" Roxas asked, side stepping his way thru the front door.

"Because we're meeting some friends down there, Barret Wallace, Yuffie and Vincent Valentine, and a couple others. If we ever have a party this summer you'll be able to meet them. They were your parents friends as well." Roxas looked over at Tifa and caught her wiping away a small tear before cheerily going on. "Some of Squall's friends are also showing up today. Oh, which reminds me! Squall!"

"Yes?"

"Is Rinoa showing up, too? Or is it just Quistis?"

"Dunno."

"Hmm, okay. Well," Tifa turned back to Roxas and smiled. "Have fun at home, and please try to keep Kairi from beating Sora to a bloody pulp." With a quick wave Tifa was inside the car and the two of them were off down the road towards the beach. Roxas stood there, watching his aunt and uncle disappear until they were out of sight. Back inside, as he was making himself a sandwich, Kairi came downstairs, still in her pink pajamas.

"Ugh, I swear one of these days I'm gonna kill him! Oh, sorry Roxas, I didn't know you were- uh, I'll just-"

"Don't worry about it Kairi. It's okay." Roxas smiled at his cousin as he sat down at the table, happy he was finally going to get something in his stomach.

"So, I hear you have a cell phone. Do you think I can have your-"

"OH CRAP! I FORGOT!" Kairi quickly got out of the way as Roxas went scrambling up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door just as Sora was walking out of the bathroom all squeeky clean.

"What's his problem? All I was gonna ask was if I could have his cell phone number." Kairi huffed as she pulled out the carton of milk.

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All right, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it! 


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